Cap stay



Aug. 26, 1958 M. H. KRIEGER CAP STAY Filed March 4, 1955 ,//VVEN TOR Zgygy Y www l ATTORNEYS United States CAP STAY Maurice H; Krieger,Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Art Cap Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application March 4, 1955, Serial No. 492,133

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-199) This invention relates to a cap stay and moreparticularly to a stay for caps of the type usually Worn by members ofthe armed forces.

Heretofore cap stays for supporting the crown portion of a cap coverhave been provided of leather covered cardboard or the like. Such stayswere usually wedgeshaped and did not have the desired contour. In usethese stays oftentimes collapsed making the hat unsightly. In order toovercome this problem, it has been proposed to utilize the cap stay madeof a completely rigid material, such as metal. However, these stays didnot conform to the head of the wearer and made the crown portion of thehat completely at and unattractive in appearance. In addition, theselatter stays are so constructed as to tear the material of the cap coverwhen placed thereover.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap stay for capsof the character described which will conform in shape to the head ofthe wearer.

lt is a further object of the present invention to provide a cap staywhich will not damage the cap cover placed thereover and which willprovide the cap cover with an attractive contour.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cap staywhich is durable and has longevity in use.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cap stayhaving all of the desired advantages which is nevertheless economical tomanufacture and easy to produce.

Other objects and advantages are set forth in greater detail in theaccompanying specification taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation partially broken away of the cap stay of thepresent invention in position within a cap;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the front portion of the cap showingthe cap stay of the present invention; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cap stay of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a cap 7 of the general typeworn by members of the armed forces throughout the World. The cap 7comprises a removable cap cover S having a crown portion 9, ahead-engaging portion 10, and a visor i1. A sweatband 12 is disposedwithin the head-engaging portion. A fiber band 13 is located in front ofthe head-engaging portion 19. A shape-retaining ring 14 is disposedwithin the upper part of the crown portion of the cap. A visor strap 15is usually located across the front of the head-engaging portion 10, asshown.

In the utilization of standard military caps of the type described, itis necessary to provide a stay to support the crown 9 of the cap inorder to prevent its collapse. Various proposed stays of completelyrigid material with cut-out portions in the form of notches did notprove completely desirable, nor did other stays of exible material whichtended to collapse. According to the present invention, however, thereis provided a cap stay 16 made of one piece of material which completelysupports and 2,848,720 Patented Aug. 26, 1958 maintains the crownportion 9 of the cap. The material used, according to the presentinvention, is such that which suflicient rigidity is maintained toprevent collapse of the crown portion 9, nevertheless the cap stay issufticiently flexible to conform to the shape of the head of the wearerand still allow the cap stay to remain in its normal shape. The cap stayof the present invention for distending the crown of the cap cover,comprises a tapered member of relatively exible material, preferablyplastic. The lower portion 17 of said tapered member is angularly offsetwith respect to the upper portion 18. The lower portion is securedbetween the head-engaging por-tion- 10 and the fiber band 13 of the capby means of staples 20 or any other suitable securing means.

It is to be noted that the lower portion 17 is flexible and will conformto the shape of the head of the wearer.

The upper portion of the cap stay is curved so as to have a convex frontsurface engaging the inside front surface of the cap crown 9, and so asto have a concave rear surface exposed at the interior of the cap, suchsurfaces being hereinafter also referred to as convex and concaveopposite sides. The cap stay portion 18 also has an arcuate top surface24, as shown, thereby causing the crown of the cap -cover placedthereover to present an attractive rounded appearance with desirablecontour. lt is to be noted that with the use of the cap stay of thepresent invention, the crown portion will not collapse and that the capstay presents an unbroken surface to the crown of the cap cover.

If desired the upper portion 13 may be provided with a central opening21 as shown to accommodate an emlem to be worn on the crown of the capcover.

The upper portion 18 of the cap stay of the present invention isprovided with peripheral flanges 22 and 23 along the sides of the upperportion of the cap stay. Another peripheral ange or arcuate top surface24 is provided along the top of the upper por-tion of the cap stay. Asshown, the peripheral anges 22 and 23 end short of the peripheral flange24 whereby notches 25 and 26 are provided. The notches 25 and 26 engagethe shape-retaining ring 14 at the top of the cap and preventinadevertent vertical movement of the shape-retaining ring as well asmaintaining the cap stay in position. The bases of the peripheralflanges 22 and 23 are supported on the head-engaging portion 1i?.

An important feature of the cap stay of the present invention is itsadaptability to be used with interchangeable and removable cap covers.Heretofore the cap cover itself has is many instances been padded toaccomplish the desired shape and contour. With the use of the presentinvention the desired result is obtained without affecting the cap coverwhich may be easily removed and interchanged so the different types ofcovers may be utilized as for example summer and winter cap covers.

The cap stay of the present invention, therefore, provides a relativelyflexible but nevertheless substantially rigid supporting member for thecrown of the cap cover which causes the cover to present an attractivearcuate shape and contour, which will in no way damage the cap cover andwhich will not collapse.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it will beunderstood that variations and modications may be made bye those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A stay for shaping the front upper edge of a cap cover comprising atapered, flexible hollow and shell-like member having lower and upperportions, the upper portion thereof having preformed convex and concaveopposite sides, the lower portion of said member being readily bendableand extending angularly relative to the upper 3 Y, portion 'and beingadapted for securement to the headengaging portion lof a cap adjacentthe front of the 'cap cover, the upper extremity of said upper portionconstituting an arcuate substantially horizontal top edge adapted to'lie-in ithe same plane as he pap lcover whereby the front Iupperedge of thecap cover 'is rounded inapp'earance with =a contour as :determined Abythe said arcuate edge, land said shell-'like member havingpeiipheral'anges eX'tenfding `along its sides and top, said top angeVengaging and 'shaping the -front of the cap-cover, and "said sidel 10peripheral flanges ending short of said top peripheral a'nge and therebyprovidingy notches for 'engaging the shape retaining ring of the cap andpreventing relative vertical movement '-'of "said tapered eXible memberand retaining ring. v .y

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS YManig1ia` V Nov. 27, 1951"'

